spiritualsnippets.com

Seeing life's events in the light of God's Word.

Oct 19

A Lesson From Sunday School

by Brenda Poulos
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Psalm 31:14,15a- “But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in your hand.”

Who is on the throne of your life?

As a kid in Sunday School, I can remember coloring a picture of a large heart shape with a royal throne on it. The idea being that God should be the one we put on that throne—not ourselves… not money… not “things”… and so on.

Life would work out so much better if we let God have control of the decisions in our lives.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized I was putting God in the position of “consultant.” Oh, I wasn’t ignoring Him in my life, but I wasn’t giving Him control, either. It was as if I had two thrones in that “picture”. I had relegated Him to be “co-chair”! I made the decisions and I asked Him (more or less) to rubber stamp them.

If I had only followed that simple teaching decades ago, life would have been much simpler… turned out just as He’d planned it from the beginning.

The good news was that I could change. I could put Him back on the throne of my life.

So that’s what I did.

How about you?

Biblical lessons Encouraging words

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Oct 23

Put God in His Place

by Brenda Poulos

Deuteronomy 5:7- “You shall have no other gods before me.”

If you’re a shopaholic, it may be shoes, purses, or blouses that distract you.

If you’re a golfer, it may be playing a round several times per week.

It could be doing the daily crossword puzzle or meeting friends for morning coffee.

If not God, then there is something or someone you are putting first in your life. And that gets priority for your attention, finances, and/or affection.

In the Bible, God refers to them as gods (note the small ‘g’) and warns us against them.

God tells us in His Word that He deserves—and wants—that first-place spot. He says if we put Him first, all of these other things will fall into place in their proper order. 

As a child, my Sunday school teacher talked about putting God on the Throne of our hearts.

As King of Kings, this is His rightful place.

Biblical lessons Encouraging words

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Aug 3

Is God On The Throne?

by Brenda Poulos

Exodus 20:3 and Deuteronomy 5:7- “You shall have no other gods before me.”

You may say, with a sigh of relief, “That’s an easy command to keep. I worship God and Him, only. The Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”

On the surface, this may seem to be true. However, let’s dig a little deeper into the true meaning of this otherwise “simple” command. Some of us, would have to admit that at some point in our lifetime, something or someone else has become a “god” to us.

Let’s look at the definition of “god”: an adored, admired, or influential person. For example, a renowned designer may be regarded as a “god” in the fashion industry.

  • a thing accorded the supreme importance appropriate to a god: For example, don’t make money your god.

This word “god” is often used interchangeably with the word “idol”, an object that is worshipped.

Anything can become a god in our lives if we let it take control of our thoughts and actions…if we put it on the throne of our lives in place of our Lord and Savior who rightfully belongs there.

Here are a few such idols I thought of. (There are, undoubtedly hundred more.) Fame, family, fitness, food, football, golf, fortune, free time, fun, television…

To alcoholics, alcohol may have become their god, taking control of their thoughts, actions, and desires. To addicts, it is the drugs their bodies crave.

The list goes on to include gambling addicts, shopaholics, those trapped in a lifestyle of pornography, and on and on.

Some of these things are good, such as food. But when eating gets out of control and we begin the worship food…let it control us, we have crossed the line into dangerous territory.

So, how do we keep that from happening? We ask God for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in turning away from these “false gods” and back to Him. We pray for the strength necessary to repent from this kind of sin in our lives and toward the One True God. We ask others to pray for us, too.

We “keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus” as we are reminded to do in the scriptures. Daily Bible reading and memorization is key to renewing our minds.

If we need to, we seek Christian Counseling from our pastors and/or mental health professionals.

Jesus asks us to worship Him with all our hearts, our souls, and our minds.

Anything else we allow on the throne of our lives will steal our joy and erode our relationship with Him.

Biblical lessons

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